The Inner Workings of Tony Stark
by Shelby.111
Summary: After The battle of New York, everything that Tony has worked to repress, worked to ignore, and push in the back of his mind all comes flooding forward. He's drowning and running out of options, but is there one Freshly Thawed Avenger that can be his salvation?
1. Chapter 1

This will be sightly occ, It may seem dark but i have a really hard time thinking that tony isnt in constant pain from the arc reactor in his chest. I also think that with Howard Starks drinking, Tonys abuse may have been past mental. I do have every intention of this having a happy ending, but this is my first time writing a fic that will be more than one chapter. If you liked it please let me know. Im really new at this and if there is something you may want to happen in later chapters please let me know and i will see what i can do to fit it in with my extremely tentative layout for the story. This chapter may seem short, but i promise they will be longer im just trying to set up the story

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The argument in the Hellicarrier was a shock to everyone's system. No one would even guess, ever fathom what all Tony Stark had been through. Least of all Steve. He didn't mean to set off the screaming match with the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, but watching him saunter around the Hellicarrier like he was the most important thing on this earth was something that he could not let go. They had been asked to help save earth and all Stark could think about was himself, trying to show off to Bruce with how fast he could hack S.H.E.I.L.D. This was not what they were there for. So standing in front of the Billionaire caused something in him to just snap.

"You really think so much of yourself don't you? You think your special; you know nothing about war, nothing about pain, nothing about having a team! And here I was looking forward meeting the son of Howard. You aren't half the man he was!" Steve growled

"I know nothing about war? Me! What you got bullied when you were a kid, you grew up, got the super serum and now your perfect. Now you get to stare down your nose at me thinking you are so much better. Newsflash Cap, you're the one who hasn't seen war, you are the one who thinks the world revolves around Captain Fucking America; everyone should be just as self-righteous as you right? No Cap, get out of your fucking bubble." Tony sneered as he slowly walked up to cap, still standing a step higher he looked him in the eye. "Let me tell you a little secret about Howard Stark, the man you hold up to being the most amazing man ever. The Man you think I should be like. I would put a bullet in my own brain before I become anything like that man! You remember his help on the serum, making you strong, I remember a drunk man stumbling home from one of his business meeting, walking through the door, fist already curled up waiting for me. I remember the man who destroyed the engine I built from scratch when I was 8 because it didn't go over 80 mph. I remember the man who was my living nightmare. Welcome to the real word Cap, not everyone is as perfect as you."

"Don't you DARE say those lies about Howard, he was a good man, I can't imagine him doing anything like that. Don't drag his name through the mud just because you need a excuse for everything you've done!" Steve exploded

Tony looked like he had been slapped, his eyes widened for a moment before all his walls slammed down. Poking Steve in the chest he growled out  
"Would you like to see the scars Steve? Do you want me to take off my shirt, show you the belt scars? Hum? How about the Cigar burn marks? Name a scar any scar, and I will show you Cap. But I'd just be wasting my time wouldn't I, no matter what I say no matter what I do you won't believe a word I say." Taking out his sunglasses from the pocket of his Jacket he snapped them over his eyes in a quick motion that had been practiced for years. "I guess it's a good thing I don't give a fucking about what you think."

Walking out of the room casually if only to prove a point, he felt the jolt of the explosion sending him flying. Realizing what happened, he scrambled to feet, running to get his suit. Steve already yelling commands for everyone.

As the battle For New York is in full swing, everyone forgets about the argument between the great Tony Start and Captain America, and everyone just for those hours can forget about the newly exposed dark side to Tonys life.

Until its over, until Tony is falling, and Pepper isn't answering the phone and all he is left to do is reflect on his life. The only thing keeping him grounded is the ever constant pain from the reactor buried in his chest. Something he has learned to mostly ignore, to stuff into the very back of his mind so he can function. But now as he falls, he feels it every inch of the cold metal inside him, every sharp pain. And he thinks about how he got here, how maybe if he had been less of a fuck up for Howard he wouldn't have the reactor, wouldn't have the suit, wouldn't have had the booze. But he knows he's lying to himself, no matter what he cant change who he is. And he wouldn't, not the torture, not the nightmares, not the reactor, because it opened his eyes to the destruction his weapons was doing to the word. All the lives he has saved with the suit. And even though he is falling, and he knows he isn't gonna make it this time. He regrets nothing. Not really. His last thoughts before letting the darkness consume him was of his dad, maybe he would be proud of him now.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up to Captain Fucking America hovering over his face was the last thing on Tony's to do list, but the white-hot pain radiating from the arc reactor was more than enough to silence any quip from his throat. Closing his eyes, he focused on pushing that pain back into the depths of his mind- like always. As his milk-chocolate brown eyes were opened, his pupils dilated sharply as he was welcomed to the sight of the Avengers surrounding him, staring at him with obvious worry. He quickly cleared his throat and played off his hidden emotional trauma.

"What the hell?! If any of you kissed me, I swear-"

"Calm down, Starky" mocked Steve.

"Yeah, okay. I'm never doing that again," Tony muttered.

Haven gotten the team laughing, he took a minute to asses the damage. Nothing too severe, a couple cuts and bruises, however, it hurt like fucking hell- he thought he may have a dislocated shoulder. Being through worse, he shook it off and hoped it would pop back in place after everything was over.

Later Thor heaved him off the ground; handing him his face plate he stuck it back in place, ready to finish what they had started.

After making sure that Loki was secure back at shield, Tony and the team went out for Shwarma. While talking animatedly with Banner about all the perks there about the lab at the tower, Bruce jumped from his chair as Tony suddenly fell over unconscious. Slumped on the ground the team crowded around him.

"Someone call 911!" Bruce yelled as he rolled Tony on his back to make sure his airway wasn't constricted and to check his vitals. He was breathing and his heart was still beating. Bruce let out a sigh of relief.

"He's alive! But we need to get him to a hospital ASAP, the only thing I can think of is that he might have internal bleeding, but there is nothing I can here!" Bruce shouted in a commanding tone.

After the ambulance came and they rushed to the hospital, the band of heroes all sat in the waiting room, eager for any news on Tony. As the doctor came out to talk to them about his condition they all rushed over. Bruce speaking first, concern about his new friend evident on his face,

"How is he, what happened?" he said folding his arms across his chest in the way that everyone took to mean he was deep in thought.

"Well, he will be fine, and should be ready to leave in a few days, and fully healed in a couple of weeks, I just ask that you keep a eye on him. He should be waking up from the anesthesia that we have him." The doctor said calmly, not at all fazed by being surrounded by the newly known superheroes. "Make sure that you don't let him do anything to straining when he gets out or-" he was cut of mid sentence by the blaring alarm.

"SHIT!" the doctor said quickly sprinting away, down the corridor where the noise sounded, heading right for Tony's room.

"What the hell is happening?!" yelled Steve taking off after the doctor followed by the rest of the team.

They turned around the corner running right into Tony's room, but what he saw stopped him in the tracks and making Steve's blood run cold.

Tony was being held down on his bed by 4 brawny men and he struggled and fought like his life depended on it. His eyes were bugging out of his head filled with nothing but pure panic. The kicked and thrashed and somehow managed to dislodge his right arm from the male nurse, cocking it back and punching the nurse holding his left in the face instantly breaking his nose. As the nurses holding his left foot let go in order to help the nurse with the broken nose Tony sprang from the bed, not having to do much to get away from the last nurse holding his ankle.

It was then that it was evident he had no recollection in his eyes, he had no idea where he was. But he immediately ran to the corner of the room with his back to the wall watching everyone else. He was yelling,"NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAIN!" at the top of his lungs, with no sign of stopping. He had his hand pressed firmly over the reactor as if he was afraid someone would pull it out. This is when it clicked for Steve; Tony was having a flashback.

"Everyone calm down! He thinks he is in Afghanistan… shit he thinks he's back there," Steve informed the rest of the room, halting all movement from the nurses and doctors hovering in front of Tony.

Tony was frantically looking around the room for an exit, but there was just so many people! How did he get back?! What did they do to him?! At least his arc reactor was still firmly in place in his chest, but all he could think of was the pain, radiating thought the reactor into his very core. There was no escape, no dull of the pain, all it did was drive his insanity, filling him with panic and unlimited ideas of what they would do to him this time around. They didn't break him then, and they wouldn't break him now. He would die before he gave them anything, but he didn't know if he could do it again. He couldn't go through the torture. The drowning, the beatings, the bone breaking. He couldn't do it. Not again. _He had to get out._

In the back of his mind he could hear someone yelling something about Afghanistan, it sounded like he was speaking English, but it didn't make any since. How is he speaking English? But he couldn't let it get to him, let his distract him from escaping. He could see a small pathway between to men dressed in scrubs. _Why are they wearing scrubs, this makes no sense! _But the pain was something he remembers much too clearly, he knew were he was. And he had to get out.

He mad a mad dash for the door, barreling through two men with no problem. He had just reached the door when he was grabbed from behind by a man who was too strong, it didn't make any since. But he wouldn't let that stop him. He jabbed his elbow back making contact with another nose, directly followed by a foot to the groin. He was let go, taking off running again without giving it another thought. He once again made it to the door, but he was once again grabbed from behind, but this time two firm arms were rapped around his chest over the reactor, and they _squeezed _sending white hot fire up his spine directly to his brain. He almost passed out from the pain. Letting out a blood curdling scream, but he wouldn't give up. Wouldn't let it happen again so he kept thrashing kicking, being lifted up in the air by too strong arms.

He could feel the grip loosening so he thrashed harder, but he heard yelling coming from every direction. He only fought harder, wiping his head back making contact once again with the mans nose which he new was already broken. He knew all to well the pain of striking a already broken bone and was stunned almost into stillness when his captor managed to keep hold of him. For the instance that we stopped fighting he could feel a sharp prick in his neck, and seconds later the world started going black.

Steve kept a firm grip on Tony even after he started to go limp no matter how much his nose was throbbing and begging for attention. When Tony was completely unconscious he limped him to his bed laying him down.

Steve in all his years in the war had never seeing somebody fight so hard, with no inhibition at all. The only thing he could think of was, _what the hell did they do to him._

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Thank you so much for reading!, if you liked it please let me know. Im really new at this and if there is something you may want to happen in later chapters please let me know and i will see what i can do to fit it in with my extremely tentative layout for the story. Also im sorry it took so long for me to post the second chapter a lot has been going on in my life but i will try my best to get the chapter out faster


	3. Chapter 3

so i felt reallllly bad for waiting so long to post the last chapter, so surprise chapter!

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Steve had been sitting in the rock hard chair directly next to Tony's bed for the last 4 hours. It had been less than 12 hours since the incident but he was still unconscious, so still that if the heart rate monitor wasn't there Steve would have thought he was dead.

They had but the full restraints on Tony, wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs. He was hooked up to ever monitor they had, he had so many tubes coming out of him it made Steve's head spin. He had no idea what any of it did, he had relied on Bruce to tell him everything that was happening medically, but him and the rest of the team had taken the chance to go to a hotel and get cleaned up. The hospital had supplied Steve with some clothes since he refused to leave Tony's side.

He felt like complete and utter shit. After all that he had said to Tony, all the he had blamed him for, the names that he had called him, even after he was here, of his own free will butting himself in danger. He had still did nothing but put him down, look down his nose at him, and even after all that Tony still grabbed a nuclear bomb and flew into space knowing he probably wouldn't make it back out. Even after surviving that he still ended up here.

He mad a call to Furry a few hours earlier hoping for some Intel on what happened in Afghanistan knowing that they always had files on everyone. But furry had told him that stark had somehow managed to hack into shield and delete all there files on his torture, though he had managed to read it before Tony got his hands on it. The only thing Fury was willing to tell him was that it was worst than anything he had ever heard of, and he honestly had no idea how Stark had made it out, his best operatives would have cracked after only a week of what they had did to him.

During all Steve's musing he managed to miss Tony waking up, until he heard the frantic beeping of the heart rate monitor. He immediately jumped up from his chair and rushed to Tony's side. He was struggling against his restraints, making only muffled whimpers.

"Tony, its Steve calm down please, were just trying to help you, your in a hospital in New York, no one is going to hurt you I promise" Steve said grasping Tony's hand, hoping that if he felt the touch it would comfort him. But that's when he started screaming at the top of his lungs, struggling once again like his life depending on it. His eyes were unfocused and daring all over the room. But his screams soon morphed into words.

"PLEASE OKAY, JUST KILL ME DON'T-DON'T NOT AGAIN, I CANT IT AGAIN, WE BOTH KNOW IM NOT GONAN HELP YOU OKAY, WE DID THIS ALREADY JUST PLEASE STOP. DON'T PLEASE…." Tony screamed, making all the veins in his neck and forehead strain and he struggled.

Steve squeezed Tony's hand in what he thought was a comforting gesture. "Tony please calm down, you're going to hurt yourself. Just stop struggling" but this only made Tony more frantic struggling even harder, and he didn't understand why, what he had did wrong until Tony spoke again, pleading desperately.

"PLEASE, NO NOT MY HAND NOT MY HAND, YOU CANT PLEASE, YOU WANT ME TO BUILD SOMETHING RIGHT, YOU CANT I NE-NEED THEM, I NEED MY HANDS TO BUILD SEE I CANT HELP YOU WITHOUT THEM, PLEASE DON'T, YOU CANT BREAK MY HANDS, COME ON PLEASE-ANYTHING ELSE, DON'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME, PLEASE STOP, PLEASE LET MY HAND OUT I PROMISE I WILL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT JUST PLEASE NOT MY HAND…" Tony was begging

"Tony! No one is going to hurt you, I won't let them hurt your hands!" Steve tried to reason, but the nurses and Doctors had already rushed into the room as Tony's screaming echoed down the hallway. They quickly pushed stave aside, with a syringe in the nurse's hand.

"Steve, please move we need to put him back under, he still has bleeding in his brain, and he is going to do some serious harm if we don't get him to calm down right now!" The Doctor explained the Steve. Reluctantly Steve moved out of the way of the doctor, allowing him access to Tony's lines.

As Tony once again went limp, the doctor pulled another chair in front of Steve, sitting down so he could ask him some questions.

"Steve, I need you to tell me what you think set him off, we need to avoid this type of outburst as much as possible, it's not healthy for his recovery."

"Look Doc, I don't know what happen we woke up and he was struggling against the restraints, I got up to try and talk to him and I grabbed his hand and he just started freaking out. He was out right begging for me not to break his hands…god I think-I think they use to break his bones, where ever he was when he was being tortured…it didn't look like new where he was, though I tried to tell him. I don think he understood me. Why didn't he understand that I was just trying to help?" Steve finished, gripping his knees in a attempt to control his anger at himself, and at the doctors for not already knowing what was wrong.

"Steve, when he first came in we did a general check up on his body, outside of the arc reactor. This is going to be gruesome, but it looks like almost every bone in his body had been broken at least twice. It doesn't look like they were properly set in a real hospital so my best guess is that it was some type of torture technique. But the only thing that hadn't been touched was his hands. Probably because from what I have gather, and what I heard yesterday they were trying to get him to build something….what I have no idea, but my best guess is it was something only he could build, and they needed him to actually build it. With him being held down and you squeezing his hand hard, no offence but you look like a relatively strong man….I think it may have triggered one of the memories of his torture. But is seemed like he is stuck in his memories of his torture."

"So what are you going to do, can you let him out of the restraints? Maybe that would help him know he isn't captured." Steve asked

"Steve I'm afraid I can't do that, I have no idea what he could do and if he rips out any of his lines he could do some serious damage, and I just can't risk it. Until we know that he is no longer volatile he has to remain restrained. I think our best bet is to keep him slightly sedated until he is at least stable enough not to do anything rash." The doctor straitened his back, looking at Steve seriously. "Steve I think you need to go home and get some rest, you are no use to him if you are tired and can't help. And you need to talk to someone close to him, see if anyone knows any specifics about his time there, maybe if we know we can avoid some of his triggers to the best of our ability."

Steve sighed, knowing the doctor was right. All he wanted to do was help, but he wasn't much use in the state he was in, getting close to 24 hours without any sleep, but He knew he could leave Tony alone. He may not know a lot about Reactor technology, but he knew enough to not leave him unprotected and in the company of someone Tony didn't know. "Okay, I will go to sleep as soon as some of the Team comes back. But until then I am going to stick with Tony."

As the doctor got up to leave, Steve also got to his feet. After seeing him out of the room we walked over to Tony's bed. Looking down at the unconscious man, he felt a mixture of something between nauseous and raw anger and what had been done to him. Steve didn't understand how someone could be so gruesome, could torture another human being. Now looking closer at a unguarded Tony Stark, Steve could now see with horrifying clarity all the scars that littered Tony's body, down his arms, covering his shoulders. He knew that each scar head a horrifying back story.

As Steve turned around to go back to his chair, he heard the door open. He was greeted by a beautiful strawberry blonde women; decked out in a blazer, pencil skirt and stilettos. She looked up at him a smile on her face but not quite meeting her eyes.

"So you're the allusive Captain America. Its nice to meet you, I'm Pepper Pots."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello Mrs. Potts….its nice to finally meet you, I have heard a lot about you" Stuttered Steve

"Yes, well I wish I could say the same, can I ask what you're still doing here, I was under the assumption that the team was at the hotel across the street." Pepper said, her scrutinizing gaze unwavering.

"Oh, well yes they are, but with Tony's…umm…..situation" Steve pointed vaguely to his chest were Tony's arc reactor rested, "The team didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone with strangers"

"Well I do appreciate that, but I am here now. I would have been here sooner, but I was across the world when I got the call. You are free to leave."

"Well with all do respect Ma'am I would like to stay and keep an eye on him. He's been having troubles with ….remember where he is and has become rather…..umm…Violent" Steve blushed, not quite knowing were the boundaries were in order to not step over them, "I don't think anyone quite realized how….strong Tony is, and it took a lot of people to subdue him the last time. I would feel a lot more comfortable if I could keep an eye on him. Help if the need arises"

"Did S.H.E.I.L.D. send you to stay with him" Pepper accused

"No….No Ma'am I just want to do what best for our team."

Pepper stood there with her hand on her hip and her blue eyes searing into his soul, looking for any sign of dishonesty or ulterior motive. Upon seeing nothing but honesty she let out a shaky breath, a posture slouching ever so slightly and her face loosing the steal edge that made sure Steve knew exactly who he was messing with, and what would happen if he was lying. "Thank you Steve, that's…very kind"

Right at that moment Tony's doctor came running back in to the room mumbling "Stupid, so stupid how could I have not seen this earlier" over and over again. He briskly side stepped a very surprised Steve and walked over to Tony's bed, picking up his chart, and looking at monitors. He was rattling off numbers and words that Steve would never be able to say let alone spell. He started fidgeting with Tony's shirt. When he started to unfasten it to go to the arc reactor Steve and Pepper realized what he was trying to get to.

Steve jumped over and grabbed the doctor by the wrist, pulling him away from Tony's chest, Pepper moving to stand between Tony and the Doctor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you were giving direct orders to not so much as to think about touching the reactor" Steve growled, his words dripping with venom and dark promises if the doctor did not have a valid reason for daring to try and touch Tony.

"Steve, please let go you're gonna break my wrist. Hear me out"

Steve looked down at his hand realizing that he was squeezing the doctor's wrist just under enough pressure to snap it. Abruptly letting go he stepped back from the doctor, still staying him and Tony. Crossing his arms over his chest he gave a curt nod for the doctor to get on with his explanation.

"Look, I believe I know what's wrong and what keeps triggering his flashbacks. Tony is in pain, a lot of pain. Not from the surgery or anything that happened while he was fighting alone with you, but I think its something he has carried for along time. When I realized that something had to have happened before the battle to put him in so much pain I realized. It's the Reactor. I don't know how I couldn't have seen it, or how he's dealing with it so well."

Steve looked at the Doctor in confusion. "How is the Reactor hurting him, I was under the assumption that it was keeping him alive."

"Steve look at it this way, he was blown up, literally. There are loads of shrapnel all in his system, frighteningly close to his lungs, major arteries and most importantly his heart. Without the reactor he would have been dead within a week. And now that his body has come accustomed to it and has incorporated its function like a new organ, even without the shrapnel he would not be able to live without it. Without it, it seems like he would die in only minutes. But everyone seems to forget, and I am ashamed to have been one of them. There is a whole in the middle of Tony's chest, and very _deep_ not properly placed hole in Tony. A hole that never can heal, that forced to stay open constantly. I can't imagine what pain he is in now, and knowing the conditions of which he received the reactor and just looking at someone of the scaring. It looks like a lot of it was not from the bomb but…..not to be too vulgar. Most of the scar tissue in the immediate area of the reactor is from thrashing around during its implantment. I hate to even think about it, but my best guess is that he was awake during the procedure….without much or any anesthetic at all. The only reason I am saying this is because if he is in constant pain from the reactor, and the last time he was in pain like that and strapped to bed with, excuse my language, a shit load of wires coming out of him, he was in Afghanistan being brutally tortured. It would make since as to what keeps triggering his memories, and why he thinks he's back there being tortured again. It makes so much since. He seemed to always be trying to touch his face, but I think he might have been reaching for the source of the pain; he was reaching for the reactor"

Understanding shot through Steve and Pepper worst than any bullet could have. Tony was in pain. Constantly, and there was nothing they could do about it. For Steve he felt nothing but guilt and self hatred for ever saying anything horrible about this man. A man be barely knew but put a smile on his face, gave a laugh, and even risks his own life for people he barley knew. All while in unimaginable pain. He thought about ever injury he had ever complained about and his guilt only got worst. There was nothing he wouldn't give to give Tony his enhanced healing, even though logically he knew it would most likely do the man no good.

For Pepper guilt at away at her for not seeing it. For letting him go through this alone. For not understanding his nightmares, for not understanding his fear for anyone touching his reactor. For not appreciating the gesture of him ever asking her to help him remove it for any reason. And for most of all, the drinking. For ever saying anything about his drinking problems. For ever accusing him of being like his father. How could she have said those things, allowed him to be in so much pain. And for what, for the company? For a couple extra hours of sleep? How could she not have known? And hearing about even a small hint of his torture brought to her mind all the things he was afraid of after coming back, the way he would flinch away as if burned every time she touched him. His horrible fear of water….all she could think of was all he had to have been though, for Tony of all people to be afraid of anything, the strongest person she's even known.

How was she only now seeing these things? All the signs were so obvious, but she was just so caught up in herself and the company to truly pay attention. And now after going through all that, here he is, reliving it all over again, if she had just looked, just paid more attention rather than treating him like a insolent child. He wouldn't have to.

The room fell into a pained silence. All three people realizing how badly they had messed up, and having no idea how they were going to fix it. What do you do when the only thing keeping someone alive might be killing them?

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Thank you so much everyone for reading, and thank you so much for the people who are following this story i really appreciate it. Reviews and Comments are really appreciated. Also, if there is anything you want to see happen in this story, i am completely up for suggestions, i know i sometimes look at fics i love and just wish one thing could have happened, so if you have any suggestions let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

"Our only choice is to keep him under" The doctor said "We keep him under until all the bleeding is healed enough that it should cause the pain of his Reactor to link with his memories and keep causing the flashbacks and confusion. It's our only choice. He could seriously hurt himself, or worst…someone else"

All Steve could do was nod in agreement. There was nothing he wanted less than to have to watch a comatose Tony, but it was what was best for him.

When the Doctor spoke Pepper straightened out her spine going into C.E.O mode. Looking at the doctor as if he was just another engineer pitching a idea for Stark industries. When the doctor was done Pepper gave him a curt nod, which he took as the sign to exit the room.

Pepper looked at Steve, "Well if Tony is going to be unconscious then someone is going to have to be with him at all times, we can't let anyone touch the reactor who isn't one of us. So we need Bruce. I know he might not be comfortable with being in such a confined space for so long but he is the only one I can trust to not take advantage of tony when he can't defend himself. Bruce is a doctor right?" Steve nodded "So if they need someone to touch it or take it out for any period of time Bruce is the only one who is allowed. But only when I'm here. Shit i can't stay here for to long I have to run the company. Shit what am I going to do I need to stay here and keep up with Tony, but I cant let his company crumble. Shit Shit Shit…"

Steve could see pepper slowly crumbling under the weight of everything that was happening. It was as if the entire ordeal had suddenly hit her like a stack of bricks

"Pepper…PEPPER…Look at me, please just look at me" Pepper spun around on her balls of here feet, staring Steve in the eyes, her own gaze slightly unfocused and crazed with worry and stress. "It will be fine I promise. I will be here the entire time. I am sure Bruce will understand the necessity of the situation. There is a whole team of people with Tony best in mind. You do what you need to do."

"You're right…god your right. I'm not any use to him letting his company crumble and just sitting in one of these damn chairs." She ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. "I'm going to go to a hotel, and shower. I will be back and we will figure out everything from there."

As Pepper walked out of the room Steve took the opportunity to scoot his chair right next to tony bed. Just studying him. Silently he made a vow to Tony's slumbering form. _You will get through this_

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Tony knew he was dreaming. He knew that there was no way the exact same thing could be happening again, in the same way. He knew that technically he wasn't feeling any pain, but god that didn't stop it from hurting. He couldn't get himself out of his dream. He had read somewhere a couple years back that in a dream you had control, and if you focused on it enough, you could make anything happen. The only conclusion he could come to was maybe nightmares didn't count. He trying focusing, he tried begging, pleading with his subconscious, but here he was. Stuck in one of the most brutal torture sessions he had ever endured. The mallet.

He was strapped down to a table. Stapes at his wrists, his ankles, his chest right below the reactor and his forehead. They even stuffed a leather tongue suppressor in his mouth to stop him from swallowing his tongue and killing himself.

This was they day after he had apparently denied the wrong man because he was left alone for about a hour, and then a bigger man, whose name he still did not know walked into his torture room. He didn't have any of the fancy equipment he was so use to. The knifes, the pliers, that sand paper, not even the rag and bucket of water that he was so use to seeing. He carried nothing but a one hand sledge hammer. It was the perfect size fore beating parts into tight places while building. It could easily be used with one hand, but that did not take away from the power of the blows.

As soon as tony saw it, he was confused; he raked his brain for what they could possibly do to him that would till allow him to build. But everything was cleared up when the man walked close to Tony, his English rough and distorted with a heavy accent. Giving Tony the feeling that he had only bothered to learn the one fraise.

"We have decided that telling us how to build will work good enough"

The man had barley finished his sentence when he brought the mallet down deceptively hard on Tony right forearm. All Tony could do was scream into his gag, his eyes bugging out his head. He wasn't sure if his arm was broken, or horribly bruised, but before he got the chance to wiggle his fingers to find out for sure the man brought the mallet down again…._and again, and again_. Hitting the same place in rapid succession. After only the second hit there the sickening sound of Tony's bone breaking into smaller and smaller pieces as he continued to hammer his arm with the mallet.

Tony could do nothing but thrash against the to tight restraints that restricted his movement as the tears streamed down his face in waves. It seemed almost as if every ounce of his being was gone, there was no iron man, no tony stark, nothing but pain. It encompassed him like a eclipse, becoming his entire being.

Then suddenly he stopped. There was no sound left in the room but Tony's harsh breaths and whimpers through the leather gag. It seemed as though several hours went by like this, though in hindsight he knew it was no more than 5 minutes. He had just begin to relax his strained muscles when it got worst. It got so much worst.

The torture suddenly unbuckled the wrist restraint, yanking Tony's shattered arm of the table and proceeded to dig is thumbs into the broken bones that protruded though the muscle and skin. Tearing a scream so blood curdling from tony that the perpetrated paused for a minute. Only to laugh and begin twisting Tony's arm, grinding the shattered bones against one another brutally.

This continued over and over for hours which felt like years. The mallet, then the twisting, the mallet, then the twisting. He would get short 5 minute breaks ever so often then he would lose consciousness from the pain, only to be reawaken with the next cycle.

After another brutal cycle ending with him losing consciousness Tony slowly started resurfacing, but this time it was different. He could feel the tightness of the restraints digging into his skin. He couldn't smell the musk of sweat blood and tears he was so use to. He knew he wasn't there, but he had no idea were he was. His body wasn't listening to him, wasn't moving when he commanded it. Tony couldn't even muster the strength to open his own eyes. He lay there in the state of half conscious for what felt like hours before being dragged down once again by his memories that were too real to fight.


End file.
